Weiss's Way: Telling Ruby
by C A Moore
Summary: Weiss's journey to find Ruby after leaving her father took a few detours. She's done things she never thought she would do, but the thing she wants to do most of all is tell Ruby about it. Whiterose. References to sexual activity, sex-work and abortion but not explicit (note: she isn't forced, and she isn't doing it to upset her father).


Author's note: The initial idea (triggered by a pwp prompt response story seen on tumblr) was for a smutty story where an outlandish attempt to escape from her father involving a faunus disguise leads Weiss into the world's oldest profession, and by way of a few salacious professional gigs (and some reflection about respectability, politics and family legacy) she works her way to Mistral to meet Ruby & co. In the process of roughing out Weiss's emotional arc I started thinking about how she would handle the reunion with Ruby, and was hit with inspiration to write this whiterose scene. It's a bit plot heavy, and I'm not sure if it will fit into the full story, for the moment I'll put it up as separate story since I like the way it raises some of the ideas without the explicit content (I guess that makes it a pitch).

~o~

Being near Ruby was easy, she just slipped into it without needing to think. It was just like before... except that it wasn't. Before she would have kicked Ruby off the bed for invading her personal space, but now it was nice to be able to feel contact; real tangible evidence that they were in the same place at the same time. They might be spooning, except that Weiss would protest the accusation and anyway, Ruby was moving around too much for any one position to apply... but there was proximity. She wasn't sure that fantasised was the right word... no she had dreamed? hoped? Imagined that she could tell Ruby everything, and Ruby would just accept it with a smile and ask some weird insightful questions. Ruby wouldn't give her forgiveness, because she didn't have anything to forgive. It still felt possible, even facing the living, breathing, continuously wriggling girl herself.

"I'm sorry I took so long. I let Father convince me that I couldn't leave"

"You're here now" Ruby settled her head on her partner's shoulder, unabashedly exploiting her newfound tolerance for contact.

"I walked away from him and then I-" Weiss sighed and gathered her thoughts "I didn't want to show up with nothing-"

Slightly changed pressure of Ruby against her conveyed the message more clearly than words: You're enough.

"No. I wanted to prove I could take care of myself. Do something entirely on my own" Ruby's steady breathing was soothing. "I stayed in Atlas for a while; I worked. I worked as a prostitute, Ruby" The way it had happened was sort of insane, and she had a feeling Ruby would like the story, but for now she wanted to stick to the confession; she wanted to see the real reaction. She didn't need to recount everything or to voice all her thoughts, Ruby was sure get it all out of her in the coming days.

After they had remained in silence for a while Ruby realised the conversation had passed to her  
"What was it like?"

The right thing to say, just like that. Not profound, but one hundred percent Ruby. Unconsciously she put her arm around the younger girl.  
"It was- It was ... easier than I expected" She had been desperate in that moment; so angry with herself, so determined to force her life in another direction, no matter how crazy, no matter how difficult it might be to make herself change... and it had been easy. "I feel like it should have been harder. I should have been disgusted" Smashing mirrors, crying in the shower while she scrubbed herself raw, that is what a good girl would have done. Not counting the money and looking for the next client.

"That is what you thought it would be like" Ruby pointed out impatiently.

"I didn't use my real name. It was liberating" to be a nobody, or perhaps literally 'a body'. The first time, her mind had been overflowing with tactical thoughts, and after that it was familiar. "It wasn't all good. It wasn't all bad. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes I did things I didn't want to do" It had been a whirlwind, ever changing. The longest she had spent in one setting had been "working passage" on the voyage to get here. None of them met her real self, but she found herself liking the roles she played; continuous re-invention was a perk of the job.

"Sounds like life"

Fat, bald, old men reliving their glory days by cornering her and talking for hours at an interminable social function; or doing it by spending a few minutes thrusting inside her. Young bucks proving themselves likewise. Paid sex wasn't always good, but "social duty" was always boring. She knew which way she preferred; it was just as well for her reputation that she had quit the social scene before having that revelation. She could think of a lot of times when sex would have seemed a small price to pay to get some idiot to shut up and leave her alone.  
"Mostly I know what they want, and I know how to give it to them" Weiss moistened her lips, "It was simple. I think I was good at it... I liked that" There had been some less simple moments, like stepping into a room to find herself facing the Atlas Council chairman and a couple of senior officials, people she had been introduced to. Fortunately, pissing yourself is much less of a issue when you are naked. She'd decided to play it out and the horny old bastards hadn't even let on that they recognised her until she had completed the encounter in her assumed role. Even that initial moment of utter panic had been exhilarating, and it led to some disquieting but sinfully lucrative gigs. She'd read her grandfather's journals from when he was just starting out... for that kind of opportunity there was a fair chance he would have screwed them too.

"Liked what?"

Weiss looked at her not following

"Being good at it, simplicity, or" she smirked, "the doing it"

Trust Ruby to ask that. Weiss blushed for the first time.  
"All of it" she confessed. When she was training with her semblance emotional control had been fiendishly difficult; it had been a shock to find her more physical reactions were not a problem. With only minimal effort her body was receptive when she needed it to be. Not orgasms on tap, but by and large she enjoyed herself and her clients found her understated reactions enticing. It made her feel confident and, contrary to expectations, in control. She had never been prone to spontaneous physical arousal, except that one time confusingly to the prospect of being paid twice for the same gig and, just lately, a certain other exception lying beside her.  
"I grew up tying to fit into the Schnee legacy. Grandfather was a two-faced old rogue but he could sell sand to Vacuo; everybody liked him, wanted to be his friend. Father is ruthless and utterly relentless; people fear him, nobody wants to be his enemy. I think Winter gave up a long time ago, but I tried for so long to work out how I fitted. I wasn't just trying to please Father. Looking back, I suppose I was looking for my edge, that flair that might make me The Next Schnee." If she was right about Whitley's little problem, whatever happened with this generation, it would be her and Winter who shape the next one.  
"People annoy me; I don't know how to deal with them; at least, not while keeping my clothes on. I'm not good at intimidation, and my sales skills are appalling, the only thing I've ever succeeded in selling is my body"

"Not a difficult sale"

It made her heart jump. Was Ruby flirting? While working she had felt more self possessed wearing only high heels and bunny ears than she ever had in a gown; she had a feeling a certain team leader would unbalance her in either scenario. Ruby had been pursuing her since the moment they met, but she only wanted friendship. Probably only wanted friendship. They had kissed when they met this time; on the cheek, but had there been some undercurrent? She forced herself back on topic. One thing she had learned a bit about was signals. Her new appetite for physical contact with Ruby was a signal... if the other girl was paying attention.  
"Definitely not CEO resume material"

"Are you going to keep doing it? Do you want to?"

"I don't know. But we have to save the world first, don't we?"

"Together"

Ruby's bright smile along with the promise made Weiss's heart ache. She found herself impatient with ambiguity.  
"Ruby, do you like me? I mean-"

"I like you. Kind of a lot"

The words could be ambiguous, but the way Ruby was kissing along her jawline wasn't. Responding by pulling Ruby closer was another signal, but she still wanted to explain herself.  
"Just after I arrived here I was, um, hired by a woman for the first time. It wasn't like a man. It was... raw. I thought of you" In a women's health clinic of all places, where her freakishly inappropriate fertility had landed her dealing with a little problem for the second time in as many months; the textbook statement that human-faunus fertility was 'extremely low on average' left out some important details. Details that would be giving her father some sleepless nights. That story could wait too.

Ruby paused  
"I am NOT paying you"

"And I'm not paying you" it was easy when they were together, she could say whatever came into her head. So why couldn't she seem to say that other thing. "What I am trying to say is that I- I think that I-"

"Yoou liike meeee!" Ruby teased in a sing-song voice

"Don't push your luck, dolt!"

Ruby hesitated taking in her position lying close up beside her formerly prickly team-mate. Her smile widened  
"You give the best advice" She snuggled in closer, kissing Weiss's neck.

"But I do, uh, not hate you," she smiled, "kind of a lot"


End file.
